1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display device and method and program, and in particular, relates to an image display device and method and program whereby the audio of an image to be displayed can be output so as to heighten the sensation of reality.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a television receiver receives a television signal which is broadcast from a broadcasting station, and displays images or outputs audio as a television broadcast program.
For example, in the case that the audio included in the television signal received by the television receiver 1 shown in FIG. 1 is of a monaural format, the same audio is output from both speakers 2A and 2B of the television receiver. Accordingly, for example, if any of persons 3A through 3C on the screen is talking, the speaker from which audio is output (speakers 2A or 2B) does not change. Further, in the case of monaural audio, the same audio is output from the left and right, and so the user who is viewing/listening hears the audio of persons 3A through 3C as the same, and the sensation of reality can be diminished.
Conversely, if the audio included in the signal received by the television receiver shown in FIG. 1 is in stereo, the audio generating direction (the direction of the audio generating location from the perspective of the user) of the persons 3A through 3C which the user can experience can be changed, due to the difference of audio volume of the left and right.
However, even with the case of such stereo, the speakers outputting the audio are speakers 2A and 2B and do not change, and so the direction of audio generation is difficult to change significantly, and so the sensation of reality can be diminished.
Also, generally on the side of the broadcast station, it cannot be estimated what kind of television receiver each viewer/listener will use to view/listen to the program. However, the viewing/listening environment of the user, such as the position relation of the left and right speakers, the features of the speakers, the position of the user, the placement location of the television receiver and so forth, differ for each user. Accordingly, depending on the viewing/listening environment of the user, the environment may differ greatly from the estimation of when the audio signal of a stereo format included in the television signal is generated, and so the user acquiring the sensation of reality attempted by the broadcast station side can be difficult.
In order to deal with this, a method has been considered wherein a sound can be obtained from a specified sound source to generate an acoustic signal, and an information signal can be generated and recorded from this acoustic signal, a moving image signal, and the position signal detecting unit, and by doing so, acoustic output corresponding to the display position of the image can be performed at the time of playback (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2003-264900).